The Accessibility Committee has been progressing toward the APHA Annual Meeting in Philadelphia this November.  Tony Cahill and Catherine Leigh Graham will perform a “walk through” of the convention site prior to the start of the meeting so any remaining accessibility issues can be addressed.  APHA distributes a hotel accessibility survey, prior to the conference, so that hotel staff can report back on their level of accessibility in a multitude of areas.  This information is available on the APHA Web site and can be very important for attendees reserving hotel rooms that are accessible and functional for their specific needs. While we have worked to add a couple of additional questions to the accessibility hotel survey that will be distributed beginning with next year’s conference in Denver, we ask all participants to notify us with any additional accessibility information that would be beneficial to have prior to hotel selection.  APHA hotel staff does receive some disability awareness training prior to the conference.

We now have a call to action.  The conference area that we need assistance with is the Accessibility Desk.  This desk is near the main registration area where attendees can come with accessibility questions.  It is normally staffed by a convention center person who may not be very aware of accessibility issues or the particulars of the APHA conference.  We are calling on the Student Assembly and all others to volunteer a piece of their time to assist at this booth.  The main times when assistance is needed is 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday through Tuesday during the conference.  Each volunteer would receive the necessary packet of information to answer basic accessibility questions and whom to call for further answers.

Several others have expressed an interest in assisting with the committee’s efforts:  Bill Scott of Abilities Unlimited, Rie Suzuki of University of Michigan-Flint and Anjali Truitt representing the Student Assembly.  We are encouraged by the interest, and look forward to building the capacity of the Accessibility Committee so that all areas of accessibility can be addressed.  If you have any questions, would like to be a part of the Accessibility Committee or would like to volunteer some time at the conference, please call or e-mail Catherine Leigh Graham (803-434-3189/catherine.graham@uscmed.sc.edu) or Tony Cahill (505-272-2990/acahill@salud.unm.edu).